Category: Digital Working

This piece was just published on the JWT Blog. It is unfair to say Google has pulled creativity out of the busienss because their Art, Copy, Code program and Project Re:Brief are both excellent examples of adding creativity to the industry. That said, ad words? Much harder to defend in terms of creativity.

Is This the Future of Online Advertising?

There are three platforms that dominate the time people spend online and their names are no surprise – Google, Facebook and Twitter. They have become the backbone of the digital experience and smart brands go where their audience is – so is this the future of advertising?

Dry. That is the best word to describe the experience users have when they see the ads above. These ads are all structured and template-driven. Yes, there is space for a great headline and brands can do something with their thumbnails, but there are no big full-bleed images, no snippets of killer video, no clever interactive overlays.

This hit home recently. On Friday, we did a somewhat silly Friday feature on digital executives “then and now.” One photo in particular, showing an emo teen version of Tumblr exec Rick Webb, piqued interest. Business Insider took a screenshot of the before-and-after shot, copy and pasted a paragraph, and then slapped on a sensationalist headline and called it a day. The author linked prominently to Digiday in the quick-hit post. The result: It generated 224 pageviews for the Digiday story. Along the way, BI banked another 1,500-plus pageviews — and that many “welcome ad” impressions along with multiple banners and a “native” video ad. Meanwhile, Digiday’s original post — thought up and executed by our staff — got 2,500 pageviews. Is this a fair trade?

The full conversation that went on between Henry Bloget and Brian Morrissey is really interesting from a future of the industry POV. And Paid Content did a nice write up.

Given that the cost of generating a reblog post is so minimal, it isn’t a suprise everyone is reblogging everyone’s work. And given the distracted nature of the end reader who is bouncing around the web based on search links and social mentions, there is little loyalty to specific news sources curating content.

So for the moment everyone will be “news hijacking” as I like to call it. Until people get tired of sacrificing time to random content and start choosing specific sources for their content.

This data visualization video really does make you wonder. If 400 people have more wealth combined than the 200 million other people in the United States, and I believe they do, then are we headed for trouble?

I suppose if you look at the developing world you can see incredible differences in income living side by side. In a lot of those countries you don’t wear your Rolex to the party, if you own one, you put it on when you get there. And you don’t stop at red lights at night because that is asking someone to take your car. I can’t really see that kind of environment in the US. We’re already much more used to “no go” areas in our cities then Europeans are and we haven’t had unlivable levels of crime. And the idea of the middle class still is strong even if both parents need to work to maintain it.

It is probably more the classic angst of the middle class that always wonders, “wow, the upper class is really, really loaded.”

Of course in the US Warren Buffet didn’t call himself upper class and made his fellow 747ers eat of paper plates in a backyard barbque. So I suppose the proper way to say it in American is “wow, the upper middle class is really loaded.”

Best just to recognize if your boss has a huge paycheck you should thank them, it means there is lots of room to grow.

The other day I was riding on the train and had a thought about the fundraiser we were doing. Since the train is an amazing good place for writing, I jammed it down on paper and then put it up as a comment on the fundraiser Facebook page. At the event a number of people came up to me and commented on it, so I thought I’d repost it here so that when Facebook goes out of business and is turned into a music discovery service by a next-generation Justin Timberlake, I’ll still have the thought.

If you already read it, thank you. And if you attended the event or have given at the site, thank you again.

I had a thought about this fundraiser and cancer in general I wanted to share.

It is amazing that despite all of the technology we have today, we basically don’t have a clue how to treat cancer.

In this case alone we’ve tried 3 treatments and researched a hundred others. Whether we are talking to leading oncologists at Memorial Sloan Kettering, board members of St. Jude’s or doctors with huge pedigrees that have gone independent, there is no right answer. Unlike a crushed leg, the doctors really don’t know what works and how to fix it. And that is massively scary.
This sense of not being in control and not knowing, whether for good or bad, is probably the most difficult part of the disease. It puts so much pressure on everyone that we act strange and take the frustration out on the people around us. And while everyone shows the stress differently, everyone shows the stress.

I think this is why this fundraiser is so important.

It gives the everyone something to focus on that we CAN affect. Instead of digging in on what someone said or how they said it, we can think about tents, websites and balloons. We can talk about this nightmare with a way to help instead of feeling completely powerless.

The Buddists say that when you put bread in a monk’s bowl you also say “thank you” for being given the opportunity to give.

The amount of people — whether close friends or people we don’t even know — that have shown their support demonstrates this. None of us are alone in this and everyone wants to help in any way they can. It restores your faith in humanity.

The main point is that if you are going to be in the business of making or designing software, you need to have technical people on your team. All sophisticated digital programs are fundamentally software and even if you are working with a production house, you need to understand it to keep your seat at the table. Having only people that only understand he concept is dangerous.

Clearly many non-technical factors are involved, but there is one simple and concrete thing we can do: stop hiring “creative technologists”. Hire coders. Reject compromise on this front, and resist pressure to give in to it. Only hire people to work at the crossover of creative and technology if they have strong, practical, current coding skills.

The challenge is how to attract them. What people often forget is a good developer can be as prima donna as a great creative. At Organic in the first boom we sold eCommerce. 50% of our offices were engineering. In most digital shops the Director of Technology is on par with the Creative Director.

Ultimately, to do that you need to provide an environment that’s as appealing and satisfying for extraordinary, creative software people as the one you already provide is for traditional creative folks. But it also needs to be as appealing to this new breed as their potential alternate settings at Google, Facebook, Tech Startup X. Fortunately, you have the potential to make it even more so for genuine creative coders – because they’re not looking for pure engineering any more than you are.

And this is the great shift marketing technology can offer. We can free the right kind of developer from the racks of coders locked up in banks across the globe working for Accenture. Of course, if 4 out of 5 conversations end in frustration because the broader team doesn’t understand software, doesn’t get the answers the tech team needs or doesn’t understand functionality trade-offs, then they won’t stay in the business.

While you don’t need to become an engineering company, you face some of their challenges. You need to understand, accept and embrace some of the nuts and bolts of software development, and take on board the work dedicated shops are doing on its processes. You need such a strong streak of code running through the atmosphere that coders want to come to you, and everyone else gets code spilling over them.

And this is the key point. If team members say “I’m all for digital, but I’m not technical” then you have to throw them out. It is like saying “I’m excited to work on the Olympics but I don’t like sports.” Digital marketing by definition is technical and this means we need to find a real home for coders in our agencies.

Don’t get me wrong, this is hard, and it’ll take time. It’s not just procedural, but cultural, so a big part of doing it comes down to who you hire and how you let them do their thing. But that’s exactly the point. That’s why it’s most important, way before you get all that fixed, and as the first major step on that road: just don’t hire “creative technologists” who aren’t strong coders.

Really, if you wonder why people get frustrated and stop using your services, consider how often you discontinue them. As a company you are showing the attention span of a gnat amped up on Jolt cola.

First it was Live Sync turning into Windows Live Mesh and now SkyDrive. Really? Take a look at this Wikipedia entry and the opening line says it all. And this all happened in about 5 years?

Windows Live Mesh (formerly known as Live Mesh, Windows Live Sync, and Windows Live FolderShare)[2] was a free-to-use Internet-based file synchronization application by Microsoft designed to allow files and folders between two or more computers be in sync with each other on Windows (Vista and later) and Mac OS X (v. 10.5 Leopard and later, Intel processors only) computers or the Web via SkyDrive.[3] Windows Live Mesh also enabled remote desktop access via the Internet.

Windows Live Mesh was part of the Windows Live Essentials 2011 suite of software. However this application has been replaced by SkyDrive for Windows application in Windows Essentials 2011

I love entrepreneurship and being able to build and launch new services, but I’d swear I heard somewhere that brands require continuity and stability…

I’m working on a presentation and was surprised that I couldn’t find a concise definition of digital cutlure in the workplace, so I’ve written one.

It is now, gulp, 13 years since theCluetrain Manifesto and amagingly two plus years since I last wrote about Digital Culture. (Note, it is weird to see your own blog in your Google search results, or maybe that is it is just weird for me). Unfortunately I didn’t really summarize what Digital Culture is, rather then say we should embrace it.

So here is a shot and critiques, rants and flames are welcome.

Digital Culture in the Workplace

Embrace Transparency – It can be because of the platitude that “information wants to be free” or becuase the ease of publishing information means there is no excuse not to publish your strategy internally to avoid ambiguity. The point is give as much information to your teams as you can so that they can do their best work. With the right information they will do what needs to be done rather then just what you tell them to do. Ambiguity or manipulation are both easily exposed and recognized for being distructive.

Speak with a Human Voice – Corporate language that obfuscates key points is easily recognized and easily called out. People prefer to be talked to directly and in a human voice. This also implies not taking oneself too seriously, bringing your pers♦onality to work and recognizing your faults — because we are all human. This extends to encouraging people to speak freely because if you don’t provide the forum, people will create their own behind your back.

Use Digital Tools – Email, the mobile phone and web publishing were just the first tools to enable a digital culture. Because you believe technology can make you happier, more efficient, or more creative, you are constantly looking for new tools to make your life better. Google, Twitter, Facebook, the iPad all didn’t exist when the Cluetrain Manifesto was published.

Look for Collaboration and 360 Teams– “Today the org chart is hyperlinked, not hierarchical. Respect for hands-on knowledge wins over respect for abstract authority.” (Cluetrain Manifesto #50) It is impossible to assume 1 or 2 people can have all of the answers. This means teams have to work together to get different points of view.

Move Fast – Because markets are changing so quickly, teams need to move quickly. This also means forgiveness for communication errors or mistakes in work as long as it is progressing work towards the end goal.

Test and Iterate – Intense reasearch and planning slows down this process so instead a focus is on iterative development. Start small, run, test, learn, build.

Love Technology – It is hard to really participate in a digital culture without being interested and intrigued by tehcnology. While this doesn’t imply everyone needs to learn to code, it does say everyone has to “consider themselve technical” and be able to understand basic of software development. Digital marketing by definition means marketing with computers and this implies being technical.

In fact it is the culture it has built and the structure it has developed that work together intrinsicly.

The culture at Stream is one of participation and ideas. Given that everyone is from different organizations, how people react and engage is based on the thinking not the titles. The fast running schedule reminds everyone speed is important and changes up the day from full conference events in the Big Top and smaller group activities, and they all occur with the constant backdrop of the bar for coffee or drinks. Free standing demonstrations of new technology and games provide additional opportunities for serendipidous meetings.

How do the events drive collaboration and demonstrate digital culture?

Big Boards – The Big Boards are the schedule of Discussions that occur in smaller meeting spaces throughout the conference. The Discussions are proposed by the attendees and put up on the boards as soon as they are opened. Because there are a lot of Discussions, this also pushes leaders to promote their events to get attendance.

30 Second’s of Promotion – As part of the opening session, everyone that wants to lead a Discussion is given 30 seconds to pitch it to the full audience. Like the digital economy this adds the sense that speed and succintness is as critical as standing out as you promote your idea.

Midnight Cooking Madness – The unspoken element of the conference is that in effect it runs from 8 am to 2 am. Asking people to contribute a recipe from their country or family, and asking them to “serve” it to the full conference in a trade show environment brings out personalities, increases opportunites for small interactions and ensures the bar stays open until 2 am.

Ignite – The opportunity to talk about any subject is classically TED. Adding Tim O’Reilley’s mechanic of a set number of slides on a timed rotation brings discipline and rhythem. 15 slides, 15 seconds a slide equals 4 minutes per presenter which even with transition time makes 10 ideas in a hour easy. Buzz Feeds Ignite Presentations.

Gadgethon – Technology is critical to digital culture, and as a proxy, gadgets are as well. Two minutes, open session, demonstrate whatever you find interesting.

The Pitch – Clearly nothing drives marketers like a competition around ideas. Allowing ad hoc teams to form up drives collaboration, new connections and generates solid ideas for charitable causes.

Overall the key themes that come out are Connections between people that don’t work together as frequently, a focus on Ideas based in strong points of view, and respect that if asked, peopel will Promote themselves in a public forum. These are all fundementally digital concepts that have been carried on since the Clue Train Manifesto and before.

The gadgets are interesting but they change. The discussions are critical but the content is trendy. What makes the conference so strong is the culture of the conference is the culture of digital start-ups across the globe.

At JWT NY we have a partnership with TechStars and the companies do a practice run for us and our clients. We also choose a couple of the start-ups to engage more actively as consultants and looking for real opportunities to do projects together.

Across the ad industry start-up fever continues to build. As Rishad Tobaccowala said in a speech that will be more remembered for cockroaches and living in the land of the pathetic, every holding company and agency is trying to find links to engage with the start-ups in their region. And most have multiple approaches.

The challenge from the agency operating company is getting the projects to come to life. Agency teams like to work with a blank sheet of paper rather than building on other people’s ideas and commercially it is hard to engage external teams outside the production process.

At JWT we are pushing as many levers as we can find to break this and that is why we’ve created dotJWT. It isn’t easy but once you figure out how to make collaboration not equal compromise, then you have are ready to work in the digital economy.

How successful any of the ventures represented at the event will ultimately be will depends on a variety of market forces that continue to change, evolve and reshape the industry — which is exactly why an organization like VivaKi Ventures is necessary, Tobaccowala said.

He also took a shot at other agency holding company venture models that are based on generating direct returns on their ventures efforts. While he did not cite any names, Interpublic’s Mediabrands unit has made no secret of the fact that it is looking to monetize its work with media startups, and has even brought its own products to market, including its “EML Magic Window” technology. MDC Partners’ two-year-old KBS Ventures unit is so sophisticated, it produces annual reports including details on the “return on equity” of the ventures it backs.

“A lot of agencies think this is a way to make money,” Tobaccowala scoffed.

“It’s a strange way to make money,” he continued. However, he added that it is in fact something parent Publicis is doing too, citing the massive $400 million venture fund it recently launched with Orange.

“There are two ways to do it. One is this way,” he said gesturing around the room of the VivaKi Ventures event. “The other is with heavy air power. We are doing both.”

With digital technology there are lots of times when an idea is strong enough that it can be a real product extension, not just a piece of marketing.

At JWT New York, the team has worked with Band-aid for years, and has a team that is focused on mobile technololgy. Put the two together — and a few calls to Disney — and you get a new way to build on an existing partnership.

Now the question is can we take this to be an “enterprise solution” with all of the extensions in advertising, retail and the full digital eco-system?

Advertising

Band-Aids and Muppets Aim to Soothe Child’s Scrapes

By ANDREW ADAM NEWMAN

Published: May 22, 2012

SOME leading brands of wound treatments were themselves bloodied by the economic slump, as consumers switched to cheaper store brands.

The Band-Aid Magic Vision app makes Kermit appear to emerge from a Muppets Band-Aid to serenade and console an injured child.

Store brands accounted for 39.4 percent share of the domestic market in adhesive bandages, gauze and first-aid tape in the 52 weeks that ended April 15, a gain of 2.2 percent from the year before, according to the SymphonyIRI Group, a market research firm.

Over the same period, the market share of Johnson & Johnson, with its Band-Aid brand adhesive strips and Johnson & Johnson brand gauze and tape, slipped 2.2 points, to 45 percent. (Band-Aid has about a 33 percent share, and the J.& J. brand has the remaining 12 percent.)

Because adhesive bandages are more popular in households with accident-prone children, Band-Aid has long licensed such characters as Barbie and Spider-Man to appeal to youngsters. Now the brand is introducing a marketing effort tied to Muppets characters and centered on that most charged of moments: when children have just skinned knees or elbows.

Band-Aid Magic Vision, a free app for iPhones and iPads, is linked to Muppets Band-Aids that already are widely available.